Hi all thought I would post our experience incase anyone else is looking for information going forward.
I'm a British citizen and Canadian resident.
Partner is Canadian citizen.
We travelled to England before Christmas from Canada.
We caught covid-19 and got positive PCR results through the NHS.
Travelling back to Canada we waited until 14 days post positive test and then filled in the ArriveCan app stating we had contracted it over 14 days ago.

In order to board in London at checkin we showed the NHS positive result email (I showed the staff my recovery NHS Pass but they wanted to positive test result for the date) as well as our arrivecan reciept and passports.

We were never challenged to see anything more than boarding passes and passports on the UK side beyond this point.

Upon landing we showed our passports and resident cards. Nobody asked to see any other documents other than the mandatory customs declaration.

I hope this will help inform people and calm any anxiety for travellers.

It really couldn't of been easier.

Thank you for the info. I am due to fly with BA and have been told by BA that they, the airline will NOT accept the NHS test or recovery pass. I tested positive in December. May I ask which airline you flew with to Canada please? Seems all airlines have different policies regardless of the country’s own entry requirements.

We returned with Air Canada.
I would call the Canadian Embassy in the UK for clarification and if necessary ask them to email confirmation that the NHS pass will be sufficient.
we called them to clarify to ease our anxiety and they were very helpful.

The OP for this thread flew BA and it worked for them. Who did you speak to at BA? Unless it was someone part of their check-in team I would pretty much disregard what they said

Wasn't there an earlier thread somewhere about NHS tests not being accepted for travel? That you have to do a private paid test for travel?

A few months back I asked if the NHS positive test would be acceptable for travel, as it wasn't 100% clear that it met the requirements. Now lots of people published their experience of traveling using the NHS positive test (including myself)

On the other hand, a negative NHS test has never been acceptable for travel

Slightly off topic, but does the NHS proof of recovery have your birthday on it? I'm heading back to Canada soon after catching Covid in India. My positive test result don't have my birthday on it, but satisfy all the other requirements so was wondering if they'd be accepted.

Also, delta customer care insisted on having a physician's note stating for being fit to travel as well. That sounds like they're mixing up US and Canadian requirements. Did any of you need anything more than the positive test?

All the NHS docs state DoB. Seeing that's one of the ways they verify that the test and your passport are from the same person I doubt that would work.

As for Delta - I presume you're transiting the USA? If so I'm pretty sure you need to meet US entry requirements as well

Thanks! I don't think most of my covid tests in the past had a date of birth on it, so maybe I need to start getting better providers.
I've already been in the US for the last couple weeks. Getting an antigen rapid test on the day of is a bit less stressful than a PCR test, so I am trying to determine if my positive test from december would work here.

Edit: What's annoying is that while my positive report doesn't have my date of birth, it has a clinic assigned ID which does include my DOB..

OK.....

So Delta have the Doctor's note bit wrong then, but this is likely still challenging. It's Delta who verify the positive result during check-in, so if they decide they're unhappy with the certificate AND they still insist on the Doctor's note then you have two hurdles to clear. Just being right in this case may not be good enough

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I'm going to try to ask the clinic I got tested at to send me an update test report with my DOB on it if possible. I do have a doctor's note saying I was positive on date X and negative on date Y, but it doesn't say anything about actually being "cleared for travel".
Would also try to get a PCR test tomorrow to be safe, but I am going to try to push for the positive test option in order to have some assurances for the next time I have to do this. Thanks!


Quick Update: I got my date of birth added to the positive test by the clinic, and was able to fly with it. They insisted on a letter, but my doctor's note worked for that so I didn't press on it.